Release of debate resolutions for WSDC 2009

Kia ora tatou and greetings to you all.

On behalf of the host of this year's World Schools Debating Championships to be held in Athens, Greece from 9 to 19 February 2009, I hereby advise you of the resolutions for the preliminary prepared rounds and final.

PRELIMINARY ROUND PREPARED MOTIONS

This House would encourage the expanded use of civilian nuclear energy

This House believes that public services are best run by private companies

This House believes that cultural treasures should be returned to their areas of origin

This House would legalise current technologies for choosing human embryos on the basis of their genetic characteristics

GRAND FINAL MOTION:

This House believes that governments should grant amnesties to all illegal immigrants

NOTE:
All teams should arrive in Athens prepared to debate both the Proposition and Opposition sides for each of the four preliminary round prepared motions.

The draw (the document listing which teams will be debating each other in each round, which teams will be in proposition and opposition for each debate, and the order in which the prepared motions will be debated) will only be released shortly before the start of the Championship.

Whilst preparing for the debates, teams are strongly advised to read and be familiar with the WSDC Guidelines on Defining Motions & Constructing Cases.

OTHER ROUNDS

All teams involved in the championships will participate in eight preliminary round debates - four of which will be prepared debates on the motions listed above, and four of which will be impromptu debates for which the motions will be released only one hour in advance.

Please note that if the total number of participating teams is an odd number, one team will sit out each preliminary round and instead participate in a 'bye-round' so four teams will debate only three of the prepared motions if that is the case.

The octo-finals, quarter-finals and semi-finals will also be impromptu debates.

For impromptu debates, the team members will be kept in preparation rooms during the hour leading up to the debate. They will not be allowed to consult with their coaches during that hour.

Under the WSDC Rules, teams may not bring any published or handwritten materials into their preparation rooms for impromptu debates, except for one English Language dictionary, one bilingual dictionary, and one single-volume encyclopaedia or almanac. They are also not allowed to bring in any devices that are potentially capable of accessing information from outside the preparation room, such as mobile phones, laptop computers, pagers, PDAs, BlackBerries, and so on.

If you have any questions regarding the rules or format for debates at the championships, please feel free to e-mail me for clarification.

Good luck for your team's preparations for the competition.

In the meantime, best wishes for the season and a happy Christmas or as it is said in Maori "Nga mihi o te Kirihimete me Te Tau Hou". (Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.) Also, Happy Hannukah for 21 December, and blessings and peace for the 1st of Muharram on or about 29 December.

Perhaps you can send me seasons greetings in your own language and I can publish them all here, together with greetings for any other festivals at this time I may have overlooked.

Ka kite ano,

Claire Ryan
Secretary, Executive Committee, WSDC Ltd